Apple Confirms It is Using Google’s Cloud for iCloud

Apple has confirmed that it has been using Google’s cloud platform to store the data for its iCloud services.
The company had made the confession in the new edition of the iOS Security Guide released in January but was spotted recently by CNBC.
The reports that Apple has been relying on Google’s public cloud first emerged two years back but they were not confirmed by the company at that time.
In its latest version of its iOS Security Guide, Apple says:
“The encrypted chunks of the file are stored, without any user-identifying information, using third-party storage services, such as [Amazon] S3 and Google Cloud Platform.”
The publication, however, doesn’t clarify that from how long the company has been using in Google’s cloud.
The previous versions of the document, Apple had admitted that it has been using Microsoft Azure, another cloud platform that is not mentioned at all in the latest edition.

The reports that Apple has been relying on Google’s public cloud first emerged in 2016 but they were not confirmed by the company

It remains to be seen that whether Apple is using Google’s Cloud Platform considering it as an efficient and cost-effective storage solution for the photos and other files or due to its more advanced cloud features.

Since the files including contacts, documents, photos and calendar etc are broken into chunks and encrypted with AES-128 and SHA-256 keys when stored within iCloud, there shouldn’t be any security concern about its storage on Google’s corporate-level cloud platform.

Google’s Cloud Platform has become an integral part of company’s revenue over the last few years, having reported a profit of $4 billion in 2017.

Spotify, PayPal, and Snap are some of the major customers of the cloud platform.

The reports surfaced in 2016 also claimed that Apple had signed a deal to power part of iCloud with Google Cloud Platform. The company had reportedly spent $400 million to $600 million on the deal.

Apple’s reliance on third-party cloud looks to be temporary as the company has been working to establish its new data centers across the country, including United States, Ireland and Demark.

Last summer, after China’s cyber security and data protection laws witnessed some major changes had Apple opened a secondary data center in the country which is being operated by a local firm.

Since then, the Apple has begun the process of shifting iCloud data of the Chinese customers to the servers located within China.